Steve Wein
04-28-2008, 02:50 am
Hi: I just bought a 1970 Irwin 23 to restore. It had been on "dead boat row" for year at a nearby marina, and the mast and boom were stripped of everything. I mean EVERYTHING! My last boat was a traditional gaff rigged wood boat, and the one previous, a traditional wood rig, so this is my first aluminum mast and boom. I don't know how the mainsail down haul and out haul is rigged, since the boom has no cheek blocks, cleats, etc. And the topping lift completely mystifies me. There seems to be a double block permanently attached to what I think is the topping lift, but if I swing it out in line with the end of the boom, it's about ten feet above it. How does it connect? Where does it connect? It seems to imply that a line goes up to it from the end of the boom, then back down to the end of the boom somehow, but to adjust it, there's gotta be some blocks and a cleat somewhere. And where and how does it connect with the end of the boom? And then there's the question of reefing lines. Is there some kind of detailed diagram I can access? Help! I would appreciate your assistance. Thanks, Steve Wein